CITY'S second summer signing Elliott Ward says it was Canary boss Paul Lambert and the massed ranks of the Yellow Army who helped him decide to move to Carrow Road.
Ward, 25, will formally join City in a two-year deal on July 1 after his contract with Championship rivals Coventry City expires - and though he had a host of friends in the game with Canary connections, it was Lambert who impressed the highly-rated centre-back.
He told First News: "I obviously want to give it my all along with the team. I'm joining a winning team so obviously I'll try to bring as much as I can to the team and hopefully we'll carry on winning.
"I think in the end it was the manager who persuaded me that this was the right move. As soon as I met him he was very honest, he told me what he would want from me, what he expects from every player - and told me about the Club getting 25,000 every week coming here to watch. I think that's going to be increased so obviously that's something to really look forward to.
"I've always enjoyed playing at Carrow Road. I think the crowd's always been good here and playing for Coventry I've been involved in some good games and enjoyed it so hopefully that will carry on now I'm playing for Norwich."
Ward scored in the opening game of the 2008-09 Championship campaign against the Canaries at the Ricoh Arena, after a summer in which newspaper speculation had linked him with a switch to Carrow Road: "I scored yes and it's quite strange how it came about because I'd been linked with a move back then and then we got Norwich in the first game and I scored a penalty - so at the minute I can only apologise for that!"
Although he knows former Canaries Sammy Clingan and David Bell, Ward didn't turn to them for advice on his move this time round: "No I've kept it to myself and kept it really quiet. The only people who have known, have been my family and most of them I only told today. No, I could have spoken to Sammy or David or I could have spoken to Dion Dublin or Peter Grant. There's a lot of people I know who have been here and enjoyed it but I didn't really want or need to speak to them about it. I wanted to make my own mind up."
